Florida Venture Blog by Dan Rua dan

No-BS Venture Thoughts for No-BS Entrepreneurs.

A running perspective on Florida's growing tech and venture community, with an occasional detour to the Southeast/national scene, venture capital FAQs and maybe a gadget or two....

By Dan Rua, Managing Partner of Inflexion Partners -- "Florida's Venture Fund".

FVCC Day 1: VC Adventures on Land & Sea

The first day of the Florida Venture Capital Conference typically involves investor activities, and this year was no exception. It started with a 4-person team scramble golf tourney at the Renaissance Vinoy Resort Course and ended with an investor cocktail cruise.

You couldn't have asked for a better day for golf -- not a cloud in the sky and moderate temps throughout the tourney. Although we didn't score the best, I lucked out with a great team of Louie Laubscher, Kathy Strother and Mark Patten. Everyone did their part, but I have to toss a golden Kangarua Mark's way -- the guy won longest drive AND closest to the pin. How's that for distance and accuracy? However, our team didn't place in the money, so you can guess how much support Mark got from the rest of us. Regardless, it was good seeing everyone and an enjoyable day on the course.

The evening brought an investor-only night cruise. I note "investor-only" because more than one entrepreneur highlighted that point when I asked what they were doing tonight. I would provide a "behind the curtain" blow-by-blow of what transpired on the super-secret cruise, but, alas, I wasn't on it. After being told the yacht cocktails started at 7pm and it would depart the dock at 9pm, I got some lobby laptop work done until 8pm. Within seconds of putting my laptop away for a leisurely stroll to the yacht, I saw it start a slow float away. I literally missed my boat.

I'm sure it was a great evening, capping off a great first day of the 2008 Florida Venture Capital Conference. At least I hope it was...I understand some of the cigars being passed around were $1,600 per box!?!?

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Florida BioDatabase

florida biotechA friend of mine, Mike Schmitt, has been collaborating with the University of Florida for some time on a database for Florida's biotech sector. Some early results from that work are now available via the Florida BioDatabase, hosted by the Sid Martin Biotechnology Incubator.

According to the new site, companies included are:

"Florida companies that use modern biological techniques to develop products or services for human health care or animal health care, agricultural productivity, food processing, renewable resources, industrial manufacturing, or environmental management are included. Some are very early stage companies. This reflects our interest in tracking development stage companies in Florida. For definitions used in Florida BioDatabase see BioDatabase Definitions."

If you know a Florida company that should be listed, but isn't, drop them an email.

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Presenting Companies at the 2008 Florida Venture Capital Conference

The following companies were selected to present at the 2008 Florida Venture Capital Conference. I was on this year's selection committee and have to say the competition was fierce. Congrats to all those who made it through -- you deserve it!

2008 CONFERENCE PRESENTERS TO DATE:

AccuDraft, Inc is a 2-year old Software-as-a-Service company that solves critical contract creation and management problems for mid to large-sized organizations. Our solutions revolutionize the contract process - allowing companies to quickly and efficiently produce contracts and documents that follow their business rules, and in the process allow them to track the data within their contracts. For more information please refer to their website www.accudraft.com .

Advantica EyeCare (Allied EyeCare LLC d/b/a Advantica EyeCare) is a privately held managed eye care specialty company which contracts with HMOs, other healthcare organizations and employer groups to deliver high quality, cost-effective eye care services. Formed in 2001, Advantica EyeCare currently provides eye care services to over 2,000,000 lives in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast on a risk basis. The services are delivered through networks of ophthalmologists, optometrists, major retail optical, and ambulatory surgery facilities. Today Advantica EyeCare has built a provider network of over 7,000 eye care professionals comprised of both private independent practioners as well as strategic retail optical partners such as Sears Optical, Pearle Vision Centers, JC Penny Optical, Eye Care Centers of America (ECCA) and For Eyes Optical to provide a national network of providers. For more information please refer to their website www.advanticaeyecare.com .

AuthenTec is the world’s leading provider of fingerprint authentication sensors and solutions to the high-volume PC, wireless device, and access control markets, with more than 25 million sensors in use worldwide. For more information please refer to their website www.authentec.com .

AVANCEN is a company with a mission of Improving Patient Care at the Bedside(tm). The Company's initial product, a "world's first" oral PCA (Patient Controlled Analgesia) device, has received FDA clearance, has completed an in-patient clinical trial, and is produced by an FDA-registered contract manufacturer. This patent-protected medical device contributes to better patient comfort and treatment outcomes, and helps nurses become more effective while saving hospital dollars. For more information please refer to their website www.avancen.com .

Banyan Biomarkers, Inc. is focused on commercializing novel biomarker in vitro diagnostic products to address unmet clinical needs associated with organ injury. Our initial diagnostic products will be used for the detection and monitoring of traumatic brain injury (TBI). Banyan research has identified unique and proprietary biomarkers present in the patient's blood following injury to the brain. Until now, no simple, point-of-care blood test existed for use by physicians in the emergency room or in the hospital to detect the presence and severity of brain trauma. Detecting these biomarkers will provide early indications of brain trauma essential for earlier intervention and management. For more information please refer to their website www.banyanbio.com .

DataBanq owns and operates a network of sites across the financial services (mortgage, insurance, credit) and real estate sectors which provide both consumers and businesses (brokers) an open marketplace to engage and transact. Consumers have access to expert level market research written by local brokers in addition to in-depth broker profiles and reviews. Brokers have the ability to upload real estate listings and video, publish blogs, and create their own lead generation forms. The company is adapting its technology for expansion into healthcare Q2 '08. For more information please refer to their website www.databanqmedia.com .

Field Forensics in 2006 introduced the ELITE Explosives Detection Kit. The ELITE has now been tested by the US Army, FBI, RCMP and several other organizations and is being used by several police agencies, including the FBI, several cruise lines, nuclear power plants, and public transportation networks. The disposable kit covers a broad range of explosives, has a very low false positive rate and long shelf life. It is manufactured significantly under contract at good margins even with relatively small manufacturing runs. For more information please refer to their website www.fieldforensics.com .

GeneEx is developing rapid, point-of-care diagnostic tests for infectious diseases capable of detecting virulence markers produced ONLY during active infections. Unlike current diagnostic assays, GeneEx's tests can detect pathogens in action as opposed to when they are just harmless colonizers. GeneEx will focus its initial commercialization effort on infectious diseases like periodontitis, group A strep and systemic fungal infections. The company has patent-protected its core technology, and has de-risked kit production and marketing through strategic alliances with key manufacturing and distribution partners. For more information please refer to their website www.geneexinc.com .

Health Integrated delivers innovative health management solutions using a whole-patient approach. Our healthcare programs help members live healthier, more productive lives while enabling employers and health plans to reduce costs by deploying resources more effectively. Health Integrated confronts health, productivity and cost challenges by integrating behavioral health and behavior change into medical and disease management activities. For more information please refer to their website www.healthintegrated.com .

Management Company for InnoVision, a regional provider of eyecare and eyewear through 8 vision centers in the Tampa Bay area. InnoVision is distinguished by it's patient care driven operating model; business development strategy with low patient lead cost; technology and data base orientation; unique merchandising approach; and the training of team members. For more information please refer to their website www.InnoVisionEyecareOnline.com .

Intezyne Technologies, Inc. is an early-stage biotechnology company that focuses on the development of advanced, synthetic polymers for the encapsulation and targeted delivery of therapeutic compounds. Intezyne has developed the IVECT™ drug delivery platform to make targeted drug delivery a reality. The IVECT™ platform represents a radically different approach to drug delivery whereby the polymer structure can be tuned to encapsulate a wide range of therapeutics (e.g. small molecule drugs, proteins, DNA/RNA, and diagnostic agents). This modular system offers opportunities to pursue many disease targets and products, and current efforts aim to demonstrate the versatility of this technology. For more information please refer to their website www.intezyne.com .

Lehigh Technologies manufactures and distributes high quality industrial polymers that enhance the value proposition and in many cases improve the performance characteristics of tires, tire products, extruded and molded rubber goods, paints, coatings, sealants, plastics and other industrial goods. Lehigh’s ultra fine rubber powders are re-engineered from industrial waste rubber using a proven patented cryogenic process. The Company sells these powders into an established but severely undersupplied market at price points that generate operating margins in excess of 35%. The management team brings high level relationships and substantial experience in the industries served by the Company. for more information please refer to their website www.lehightechnologies.com .

Moka provides real-time multi-protocol and multi-lingual messaging applications and services that help people communicate across platforms and borders. Moka’s core service enables any wireless subscriber to engage in a SMS based real-time chat with multiple participants on any mobile device, across different IM platforms or the web and in multiple languages without having to download an application to the handset. Moka provides the only real-time multi-protocol and multi-lingual person-to-person and group messaging application in the market. Our unique communication solution will help people interact and communicate more effectively around the world. For more information please refer to their website www.moka.com .

NovaMin Technology Inc. (“NTI”) is marketing its proprietary material, NovaMin®, as the next generation active-ingredient foundation for consumer oral health care and professional dental products. NTI supplies the ingredient for use in existing products as a branded ingredient. NovaMin addresses rapidly growing, unmet oral care needs of adults and seniors. It does this by amplifying the natural biological defenses and repair mechanisms of the oral environment – resulting in teeth and gums that look and feel noticeably healthier. For more information please refer to their website www.novamin.com .

NovaVision, Inc., headquartered in Boca Raton, Fla., develops and provides scientifically based, innovative neuro-stimulation medical devices and comprehensive solutions to noninvasively restore the vision of patients with neurological visual impairments. While other rehabilitation modalities have been considered a standard of care for stroke and traumatic brain injury patients (collectively called acquired brain injury patients), NovaVision Vision Restoration Therapy (VRT) addresses vision, an important missing rehabilitation. When diagnosed, neurological vision loss has historically been treated with techniques to compensate for injury rather than restore function. For more information please refer to their website www.novavision.com .

ON-CARD. Inc. On-Card creates and strengthens relationships with personalized gift cards and photo cards. For more information please refer to their website www.on-card.com .

Persystent Technology Corporation is an independent software vendor that offers Persystent Enterprise (PE), a next generation automated PC repair and policy enforcement solution. PE keeps PCs working the way YOU want, all the time, On or Off the network. As a true PC lifecycle management offering, PE automatically enforces IT policies and delivers unparalleled system availability, compliance, and control of PCs. For more information please refer to their website www.persystent.com .

Prioria designs and develops embedded systems for autonomous and robotic applications. Prioria is the creator of the MAVERIC UAS, a hand launched, squad level, fully autonomous unmanned aerial system with the ability to fly in cluttered aerial environments. Prioria also creates advanced, embedded systems for use in the defense, homeland security, and medical device industries. For more information please refer to their website www.prioria.com .

ReDesigning Women is a place to explore the many issues and concerns you face in all facets of your life as you contemplate, navigate and complete the divorce process. The goal is to provide access to practical, emotional, social and physical support, information and encouragement. ReDesigning Women is the winner of the Florida Collegiate Business Plan Competition. For more information please refer to their website www.RDWCommunity.com .

Solicore is a worldwide leader of embedded power solutions, offering its Flexion® product portfolio of advanced, ultra-thin, flexible, lithium polymer batteries for powered cards, RFID, and micro medical devices. Solicore has developed an advanced battery technology that is ultra-thin, flexible, and environmentally safe, which significantly enhances the capabilities of lithium-based batteries. This technology provides a high-energy and high-power density embedded power solution that operates over a wide temperature range and is ideal for high temperature lamination manufacturing processes. Solicore develops, manufactures and markets these ultra-thin, flexible, lithium polymer batteries. Solicore also provides technology integration services that enable customers to accelerate their time to market and increase product design efficiencies at its headquarters, located in Lakeland, Florida. For more information, please visit their website www.solicore.com .

Spectrum Bridge Inc. (SBI), is focused on providing a new wireless communication system technology to allow real time auctioning of FCC licensed radio spectrum. The company’s unique, patented technology creates a new paradigm for the efficient use of spectrum for enterprises, consumers, public safety, and defense users. Spectrum Bridge makes radio spectrum a commodity by creating a real time market for spectrum owners and users to exchange spectrum in a structured and policed environment. For more information please refer to their website www.spectrumbridge.com .

The Kramer Group, Inc. is an information technology company providing "web based" quality assurance services for heallthcare institutions around the country. Our services focus on the providing data quality assurance for registration, billing, coding and collection functions throughout the revenue cycle of a healthcare institutions and their business office operations. These services are sold on a recurring revenue subscription model under multi-year agreements. For more information please refer to their website www.kramergroup.com .

XSell, LLC was founded in 2004 with the sole focus of enabling a new, more effective sales channel: Customer Interaction Marketing. The XSell Interaction Marketing Platform, applicable to a wide variety of industries and organizations, was designed to leverage customer-initiated interactions and transform these into sales opportunities. XSell's service oriented architecture delivers targeted cross-sell content to common customer interaction channels. The XSell interaction hub ensures that sales offers are consistent across channels and allows customer responses to be linked across channels including contact centers, consumer facing web sites and mobile devices. All reporting is consolidated across channels as well as available for each specific channel. For more information please refer to their website www.goxsell.com

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Florida Venture Capital Conference 2008: It's Gonna Be Big, Again

The 2008 Florida Venture Capital Conference is gearing up for another record year. If you are an entrepreneur, investor or startup service provider in the Southeast, this is a can't-miss conference. Last year's conference had over 1,200 attendees (record attendance), including over 180 investors. You can see my wrap-up posts from the last two conferences at Florida Venture Capital Conference 2006 Day 1, Day 2, Day 3 and Florida Venture Capital Conference 2007.

This year's conference is being held January 29-30, 2008 at the Renaissance Vinoy, St Petersburg, FL. If the venue is any indication, this will be a first-class event.

I'll provide a list of presenters in my next post, but wanted to congratulate Inflexion portfolio companies Databanq Media and Persystent Technologies on being selected as presenters for this year's event. Come see what they're up to, and many others. I hope to see you there!

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SBSS Week 2: 10 Reasons to Talk to Your Customers Early

customers
We had another great week of the Success Breeds Success Series. This week covered Markets and Market Research -- with a focus on sizing your market and understanding what customers want.

Randy Scott, CEO of NovaMin, was the guest speaker and did a fantastic job of summarizing his efforts to select and size NovaMin's market. A defining characteristic of his market research was a focus on talking to customers instead of just relying on library/internet research (he did that too). As a result, his numbers and decisions were grounded in reality, not assumptions.

Entrepreneurs who talk to their customers early benefit in a multitude of ways:
1) Customers can provide primary data on market dynamics & size;
2) Customers often have/share secondary data (research reports etc.) on their markets;
3) Customers are typically more open to answer questions if the goal is reasearch instead of sales;
4) Customers can help prioritize product features;
5) Customers may provide early commitments for trials/sales;
6) Customers can be valuable references for funding diligence;
7) Customers could become early investors;
8) Customers can be a resource for more customers (e.g. trade associations);
9) Customers may know of good management candidates from their industry;
10) Customers that are included early, become long-term resources for information and guidance;

So...why are you reading this? Go talk to your customers...

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VC, So Easy a Governor Can Do It

While reading SoutheastTechWire this morning, I was surprised by the headline that Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue has launched a venture capital fund. My first images were of a Governor fitting Partner meetings and startup board meetings in between lobbyist lunches and political battles with his legislature.

That's not quite the reality, at least I hope not. According to SETW, the Georgia Research Alliance Venture Capital Fund will allow the state to partner with the private sector to provide early-stage financing for businesses formed around intellectual property developed in Georgia's research universities. The state's $10 million investment will be matched 3-to-1 by private dollars for a total of $40 million for the fund. See http://gov.georgia.gov/00/press/detail/0,2668,78006749_78013037_102958342,00.html

This is great news for Southeast entrepreneurs leveraging Georgia research, with one caveat. The success of the program will be highly dependent upon private fund management as a venture fund competing for top returns, rather than a government-run program subject to political favors/pressures. I also think the 3-to-1 private match will be contingent upon such insulation from political gaming/inefficiency. A $40M fund is a great start, but it needs to succeed on financial measures to warrant ongoing support/growth. All that said, congrats are due for Governor Perdue taking steps to support Southeast entrepreneurs.

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Cloverfield Reviews from 1-15-08 Screenings

OK, blame it on my BLOG260 commitment or my love of ARGs, but this is yet another post about Cloverfield. Specifically, my 1-10-08 Cloverfield review is about to get some blogosphere company from a flood of 1-15-08 screenings -- still 3 days before national release.

If you attended one of tonight's Florida screenings in Tampa, Orlando, Aventura, Jacksonville, or West Palm Beach, I'd like to see/link your review from my prior review. Likewise, if you attended one of tonight's California screenings in San Francisco, Fresno, Milpitas, or Sacramento, I'd like to do the same. You can notify me by commenting, linking or trackbacking my Gainesville review and I'll update that post with links to tonight's reviews.

Thanks and have fun at the early screenings!

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SBSS Week 1: Entrepreneurs Need Passion

I'm helping facilitate the first FastTrac TechVenture program in North Florida, called Success Breeds Success Series (SBSS). It's an intensive 8-week bootcamp for entrepreneurs, including "secrets of success" from most of the top entrepreneurs in the area.

We have a fantastic group participating and our first week focused on the Characteristics of Entrepreneurs. Jamie Grooms, founder of Regeneration Technologies and AxoGen, was the speaker and we spent considerable time discussing the key traits of entrepreneurs. It was a wide-ranging discussion that I won't attempt to summarize here; however, there was one takeaway that was a mild surprise to me.

I'm a terribly passionate person and that has an impact on the type of people I back -- I'm drawn to others whose passion shows in their efforts and dedication to their companies. However, at SBSS I expected to hear diverse views on whether passion was a defining trait of entrepreneurs -- maybe from tech-heavy founders. Boy was I wrong.

Everyone felt passion was a defining trait of successful entrepreneurs. A commitment to do whatever it takes is critical to fight through all the inevitable "no's" heard when building a business. I believe this also shows itself in creativity -- passion makes an entrepreneur think of new ways to create success.

Are you ready to run through walls for your idea? If not, maybe it's not the right idea or the right time for you -- or you need to find co-founders with that core. The road to entrepreneurial success contains plenty of walls, will you stop or keep running?

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Even the Cloverfield Monster Does Endorsements

shlusho shirtMaybe it's because I've seen the power of respectful, well-done product placements, but I noticed a few brands (when my eyes weren't shut) at my recent pre-screening of Cloverfield. Kudos to those marketers who managed to secure prime brand placement without hurting the story in the middle of a first-person war zone formerly known as Manhattan. Also, thanks for helping support such great entertainment!

The brands I noticed and when:
- Sephora: Rob leans against Sephora building with brand above his shoulder, just as his phone dies;
- Nokia: Rob cries it out on a subway bench with Nokia by his side;
- Aquafina: Rob pries Aquafina machine with crowbar as brand swings toward camera;
- Mountain Dew: this shot seemed the longest (maybe cuz I Do the Dew daily), behind/above Marlena as she tends to her wounds (was this the same machine Rob previously pried open?)
- PayPerPost: written with sharpie on Cloverfield Monster's forehead as Hud gets a close-up ;-)
- Slusho (if you count ARG IG brands): Jason's t-shirt at the party [above image credit: projectcloverfield.com]

I'm sure there were plenty more (I think Bonine was subliminal), but at least those above pulled off some monster product placements. If you saw others, please share what/when via comments...

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1st Cloverfield Review: It Will Make You Sick -- But It Will Be Worth It!

cloverfield review
My wife had to stop watching multiple times. The first girl we spoke to after the movie felt queasy. Someone was throwing up in the bathroom afterward. What movie could have this effect, and yet people exited with stunned smiles on their faces? The movie without a name...Tagruato's Revenge...Slusho Brain Freeze Makes Monster Eat New York...1-18-08...Cloverfield.

I was lucky enough to catch the first public screening of Cloverfield tonight -- joined by my wife, my bro, my nephews (see KidReviewer's Cloverfield review) and the Atom Splitter (see Steve's review). I can't say why the first screening of the most anticipated movie of 2008 was in my town of Gainesville, FL. I can't say why it was 5 days before any of the other early screenings planned across the country. All I can say is "thanks Jason" for the tip, "thanks Paramount" for loving Taserland and "thanks JJ" for a freaking-fantastic, first-person, fright-filled monster flick.

Out of respect for those who haven't seen it, I won't share full storyline here. However, I will share some key thoughts and observations. If you don't want any hint of spoiling -- STOP READING NOW.
cloverfield review
Likes:
- The Cloverfield ARG building up to the movie: it's just about the only way you have any backstory on the monster.
- Immediate monster footsteps: even before Paramount and Bad Robot logos show up.
- Hard to describe, horrific monster: I will share that some movements reminded me of bat walking, face reminded me of Predator, pulsating ears/head reminded me of Beowulf Grendel and leave further Cloverfield monster depictions to KidReviewer.
- First-person camera: makes the entire movie feel action-packed and really amps up the monster scenes (imagine Half-Life Snarks 10X bigger wickeder coming at you and your vidcam)
- Overwritten vid footage as construct for some personal backstory.
- Decent character development so I cared when bad things happened to good people -- and they did, repeatedly.
- "Hud the Stud": OK, so he's no stud, but he carried the cam, had the best lines and was my favorite character.
- Nightvision on the vidcam: 'nuf said.
- No cop-out on the ending.
cloverfield review
Dislikes:
- Time frame of vid clips: didn't match ARG buildup, probably because spring shooting complicated January timeline (and I'm guessing the extent/success of ARG was not contemplated during shooting). Still seems like there should have been away to stay consistent in ARG and movie.
- Too short: only 75 minutes by my count. Although thoroughly enjoyable, there was plenty of opportunity for building more suspense or meatier scenes (e.g. military detention remarkably short and frazzled)
- People are going to be sick: Although I came out fine, this movie should come with a warning to take your Dramamine/Bonine first. In fact, I predict viral marketing will benefit from "this movie makes people sick" reality.
cloverfield review

Summary: If you like action films, genre-breakers, Gen-Y, scary movies, or monster flicks, you will like Cloverfield. Go, take some friends and find out why Rob is, like, my main dude!

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IZEARanks.com Alpha Now Live: Open Analytics Arrives

It was announced earlier today that IZEARanks.com has been released in alpha. Ted's post at the IZEA blog provides plenty of context, including details on the open analytics, smooth graphs, and API. In short, social media deserves a transparent ranking system that measures true traffic and influence, based upon primary data (via on-site analytics) rather than audience inferences (via in-browser) or mysterious backlink algorithms. RealRank is that ranking system and more IZEARanks will be coming (like ROIRank: measuring true ROI for social media marketing). Go register your blog now, or checkout others...and help make the open analytics even better...

I think a tease of eye-candy is in order:Congrats team on the alpha release...and good luck with the alpha bug reports and feature requests ;-)

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Cloverfield: A Building ARG Climax

News reports surfaced yesterday about a Tagruato Oil Rig collapse (Chaui Station), with possible T.I.D.O. Wave involvement. If you haven't already done your research on Cloverfield, now would be the time. Something very big is heading our way 1-18-08, and I'm not talking about a monster-sized Slusho.




Related images: cloverfield, tagruato, tidowave, 1-18-08, cloverfield movie, slusho, cloverfield monster

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Blog260, the Weekend-Lover's Blog365

BLOG260I've seen a couple posts recently about Blog365, a group of bloggers committing themselves to blog every single day of the year (actually Feb 29 is a Blog365 day of rest). I really like the idea and should probably join in.

However, I know myself too well. I get too much enjoyment from my family and my venture investing to give myself zero blogging cushion. Don't get me wrong, I really enjoy blogging, interacting with readers and connecting with other bloggers -- it's just a matter of setting realistic goals for 2008. It's going to be a big year on multiple fronts.

Therefore, I've decided to start my own group of one, BLOG260, focused on posting at least 5 times a week. That will likely protect my weekends, but also provide some flexibility for high-travel weeks etc.

If I'm successful, what will this mean for FVB readers? More posts and probably a wider variety of posts. I'm sure plenty of them will be shorter -- somewhere between Twitter length and my typical blog posts. I'm hoping more posts will also mean more comments, allowing for more dialogue instead of monologue.

What do you think of this idea? Could you do Blog365 or is BLOG260 more realistic? If you go the BLOG260 route, blog about it and let me know in the comments -- I'll update this post with a list of participating blogs.

Oh, and belated Happy New Year -- I've already got some catch-up posts to do! ;-)

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Awash in Social Graphs and News Feeds, Happy Birthday felt great!

karaokeYesterday was my birthday and it was good. My wife and girls treated me to a great lunch, a great dinner, a sparkler-filled Krispy Kreme donut cake and plenty of presents along the way. They even gave me an early present last week, allowing for some family Wii karaoke on the tail of Christmas vacation.

Interestingly, however, when my wife told me "Happy Birthday" before I left for work yesterday, she wasn't the first. You see, one of my blog readers, "Mark", beat her to it with a 12:30am Skype. I also had multiple early morning well-wishers from various social networks.

Friends in California who I see maybe once a year even beat my dad and brother to the punch -- and I talk to those guys almost daily.

Although I feel buried by social graph feeds and worry about personal data privacy, birthday wishes throughout the day felt good. It's just one of the simple pleasures of perpetual connectedness.

In thanks for all the birthday love, here's an interesting online find: Hey There Delilah via online karaoke, including recording, saving and sharing...enjoy!

Related images: happy birthday, social graph, karaoke, hey there delilah, plain white t's, happy birthday

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